理学最新文献

{"title":"Prof Miles Padgett (OBE, FRS) from blue-sky research to real-world applications and challenges","authors":"Ruidong Xia, Ying Hu","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01771-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01771-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Orbital angular momentum (OAM) research has evolved from a theoretical concept to a tool with diverse applications. Early advancements distinguished OAM from spin angular momentum (SAM), leading to practical innovations such as optical tweezers and quantum entanglement. Compared with SAM, OAM can carry more information, which makes it invaluable for high-capacity data transmission and secure communications. Professor Miles Padgett, a leading scientist in the field of optical momentum, is well-known for his contributions, including the realization of an optical spanner for spinning micron-sized objects, the use of orbital angular momentum to increase the data capacity for communication systems, and the development of an angular form of the Einstein‒Podolky‒Rosen (EPR) quantum paradox. In an enlightening conversation with Light: Science &amp; Applications, he highlighted the fundamental properties of the angular momentum of light, the invention of optical tweezers and optical spanners, and the demonstration of OAM states for extending the alphabet of optical communication using both classical and quantum light. In particular, he explained the various aspects of OAM distinguished from SAM. This interview further explored his collaboration with industry partners that bridges the gap between academic research and real-world applications by using his skill in light shaping in various areas, including his current role as the principal investigator for QuantIC and his group’s work on building novel endoscopes that are the size of the width of a human hair.</p><p>As an academic administrator, during his 5-year term as Vice-Principal for Research at the University of Glasgow (2014–2019), Professor Miles Padgett’s efforts led to an improvement in the quality of the University’s research publications from the lower quartile to the upper quartile in the Russell Group of the UKs leading universities. In this interview, he shared his approach to improve research culture to build up research collaboration, secure external funding for conducting cutting-edge research, and translate blue-sky research into real-world impact. In addition to his research success, Miles also serves many important roles for research societies and funding agencies. For example, as the Interim Executive Chair for EPSRC in 2023, his tenure successfully led to a nearly 50% increase in the number of funded Centres for Doctoral Training, corresponding to an additional intake of 1500 students. When asked about his motivation to serve on research committees, he expressed his ambition to shape the direction of science, advocating for areas of science with the potential to impact society. For young scientists, his advice is to understand that perseverance and adaptability are crucial for research career progress while remembering that luck also plays a role—sometime you just have to hang on in.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143789695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantum imaging with ultra-thin metasurfaces","authors":"Jongwon Lee","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01830-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01830-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nonlinear optical metasurfaces, which relax the phase-matching constraints of bulk nonlinear crystals and allow for precise engineering, are opening new possibilities in the field of quantum photonics. Recent advancements have experimentally demonstrated high-resolution 2D imaging using a 1D detector array by combining quantum ghost imaging and all-optical scanning with spatially entangled photon pairs generated from a nonlinear metasurface. These findings establish metasurfaces as a promising platform for quantum imaging, communications, and sensing applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Excitonic insulator powers room-temperature ultra-sensitive visible to terahertz detection","authors":"Yi Wu, Wenjie Deng, Yongzhe Zhang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01828-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01828-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Phase transitions induce significant changes in the electrical and photonic properties of materials. Ultra-sensitive photodetectors leveraging material phase transitions can be realized near the transition temperature. Photodetectors based on Ta₂NiSe₅, a room-temperature excitonic insulator phase transition material, exhibit exceptional performance from visible to terahertz frequencies. Specifically, in the terahertz range, the electronic bandwidth is 360 kHz, and the specific detectivity (D*) reaches 5.3 × 10¹¹ cm·Hz^1/2·W⁻¹. The van der Waals heterostructure of Ta₂NiSe₅/WS₂ further enhances performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"235 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Topologically trivial graphene enables mid-infrared orbital angular momentum detection toward on-chip integration","authors":"Jiayue Han, Jun Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01829-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01829-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A mid-infrared orbital angular momentum detector based on multilayer graphene has been successfully developed, overcoming the previous reliance on C_2V point group topological Weyl semimetals via the orbital photogalvanic effect. This CMOS-compatible two-dimensional material system is crucial for advancing the large-scale practical application of orbital angular momentum detectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Retinal thermal deformations measured with phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography in vivo","authors":"Yueming Zhuo, Mohajeet Bhuckory, Huakun Li, Junya Hattori, Davis Pham-Howard, David Veysset, Tong Ling, Daniel Palanker","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01798-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01798-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Controlling the tissue temperature rise during retinal laser therapy is essential for predictable outcomes, especially at non-damaging settings. We demonstrate a method for determining the temperature rise in the retina using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (pOCT) in vivo. Measurements based on the thermally induced optical path length changes (ΔOPL) in the retina during a 10-ms laser pulse allow detection of the temperature rise with a precision less than 1 °C, which is sufficient for calibration of the laser power for patient-specific non-damaging therapy. We observed a significant difference in confinement of the retinal deformations between the normal and the degenerate retina: in wild-type rats, thermal deformations are localized between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the photoreceptors’ inner segments (IS), as opposed to a deep penetration of the deformations into the inner retinal layers in the degenerate retina. This implies the presence of a structural component within healthy photoreceptors that dampens the tissue expansion induced by the laser heating of the RPE and pigmented choroid. We hypothesize that the thin and soft cilium connecting the inner and outer segments (IS, OS) of photoreceptors may absorb the deformations of the OS and thereby preclude the tissue expansion further inward. Striking difference in the confinement of the retinal deformations induced by a laser pulse in healthy and degenerate retina may be used as a biomechanical diagnostic tool for the characterization of photoreceptors degeneration.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated generation of vortices and frequency conversion with metasurfaces","authors":"Jinyong Ma, Kenneth B. Crozier, Andrey A. Sukhorukov","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01831-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01831-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The generation of optical vortices in compact systems and across different spectral regions can open new horizons for their applications in end-user devices. Latest advances in the design and fabrication of optical metasurfaces made of a quadratically nonlinear material enable highly precise creation of vortices with different topological charges at the second-harmonic frequency, with the potential to obtain various other structured states of light.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Second harmonic generation and nonlinear frequency conversion in photonic time-crystals","authors":"Noa Konforty, Moshe-Ishay Cohen, Ohad Segal, Yonatan Plotnik, Vladimir M. Shalaev, Mordechai Segev","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01788-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01788-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We study the nonlinear process of second harmonic generation in photonic time-crystals, materials with refractive index that varies abruptly and periodically in time, and obtain the phase matching condition for this process. We find conditions for which the second harmonic generation is highly enhanced even in the absence of phase matching, governed by the exponential growth of the modes residing in the momentum gap of the photonic time crystal. Additionally, under these conditions, a cascade of higher-order harmonics is generated at growing exponential rates. The process is robust, with no requirement for phase-matching, the presence of a resonance or a threshold, drawing energy from the modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Large-scale combinatorial optical barcoding of cells with laser particles","authors":"Nicola Martino, Hao Yan, Geoffrey Abbott, Marissa Fahlberg, Sarah Forward, Kwon-Hyeon Kim, Yue Wu, Han Zhu, Sheldon J. J. Kwok, Seok-Hyun Yun","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01809-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01809-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The identification of individual cells is crucial for advancements in single-cell analysis. Optically readable barcodes provide a means to distinguish and track cells through repeated, non-destructive measurements. Traditional fluorophore-based methods are limited by the finite number of unique barcodes they can produce. Laser particles (LPs), which emit narrowband peaks over a wide spectral range, have emerged as a promising technology for single-cell barcoding. Here, we demonstrate the use of multiple LPs to generate combinatorial barcodes, enabling the identification of a vast number of live cells. We introduce a theoretical framework for estimating the number of LPs required for unique barcodes and the expected identification error rate. Additionally, we present an improved LP-tagging method that is highly effective across a variety of cell types and evaluate its biocompatibility. Our experimental results show successful barcoding of several million cells, closely matching our theoretical predictions. This research marks a significant step forward in the scalability of LP technology for single-cell tracking and analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Farey tree locking of terahertz quantum cascade laser frequency combs","authors":"Guibin Liu, Xuhong Ma, Kang Zhou, Binbin Liu, Lulu Zheng, Xianglong Bi, Shumin Wu, Yanming Lu, Ziping Li, Wenjian Wan, Zhenzhen Zhang, Junsong Peng, Ya Zhang, Heping Zeng, Hua Li","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01819-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01819-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Frequency combs show various applications in molecular fingerprinting, imaging, communications, and so on. In the terahertz frequency range, semiconductor-based quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are ideal platforms for realizing the frequency comb operation. Although self-started frequency comb operation can be obtained in free-running terahertz QCLs due to the four-wave mixing locking effects, resonant/off-resonant microwave injection, phase locking, and femtosecond laser based locking techniques have been widely used to broaden and stabilize terahertz QCL combs. These active locking methods indeed show significant effects on the frequency stabilization of terahertz QCL combs, but they simultaneously have drawbacks, such as introducing large phase noise and requiring complex optical coupling and/or electrical circuits. Here, we demonstrate Farey tree locking of terahertz QCL frequency combs under microwave injection. The frequency competition between the Farey fraction frequency and the cavity round-trip frequency results in the frequency locking of terahertz QCL combs, and the Farey fraction frequencies can be accurately anticipated based on the downward trend of the Farey tree hierarchy. Furthermore, dual-comb experimental results show that the phase noise of the dual-comb spectral lines is significantly reduced by employing the Farey tree locking method. These results pave the way to deploying compact and low phase noise terahertz frequency comb sources.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optical trapping of mesoscale particles and atoms in hollow-core optical fibers: principle and applications","authors":"Rui Wang, Wei Li, Zhiwen Xia, Hongchang Deng, Yao Zhang, Rongxin Fu, Shuailong Zhang, Tijmen G. Euser, Libo Yuan, Ningfang Song, Yi Jiang, Shangran Xie","doi":"10.1038/s41377-025-01801-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01801-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Hollow-core fiber (HCF) is a special optical waveguide type that can guide light in the air or liquid core surrounded by properly designed cladding structures. The guiding modes of the fiber can generate sufficient optical gradient forces to balance the gravity of the particles or confine the atom clouds, forming a stable optical trap in the hollow core. The levitated objects can be propelled over the fiber length along the beam axis through an imbalance of the optical scattering forces or by forming an optical lattice by the counter-propagating beams. The ability to overcome the diffraction of the laser beam in HCF can significantly increase the range of the optical manipulation compared with standard free-space optical tweezers, opening up vast ranges of applications that require long-distance optical control. Since the first demonstration of optical trapping in HCF, hollow-core-fiber-based optical trap (HCF-OT) has become an essential branch of optical tweezer that draws intense research interests. Fast progress on the fundamental principle and applied aspects of HCF-OT has been visible over the past two decades. In recent years, significant milestones in reducing the propagation loss of HCF have been achieved, making HCF an attractive topic in the field of optics and photonics. This further promotes the research and applications of HCF-OT. This review starts from the mechanism of light guidance of HCF, mainly focusing on the issues related to the optical trap in the hollow core. The basic principles and key features of HCF-OT, from optical levitation to manipulation and the detection of macroscopic particles and atoms, are summarized in detail. The key applications of HCF-OT, the challenges and future directions of the technique are also discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":18069,"journal":{"name":"Light-Science & Applications","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}